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I still maintain as I always have that while "clutch" may not exist, "not clutch" does.

Clutch may indicate that a player's performance is increased in pressure situations. I tend to think that "clutch" players perform nearly identically as they do in "non-clutch" sitatuions and that variances are a matter of sample size.

However, hitting a baseball is probably the singular most difficult skill in sport and one can not ignore that pressure is going to adversly affect some players performance. Learning to block out all mental distractions is key to performing well in high pressure situations. I don't buy the arguement that ALL MLB players can do this by virtue of being the "best of the best".

MDCardsFan wrote: However, hitting a baseball is probably the singular most difficult skill in sport and one can not ignore that pressure is going to adversly affect some players performance.

I think you could say the same for golf. Mastering the consistent striking of a golf ball is a skill only a very few ever manage over a sustained amount of time. Then add to that the pressure of having to sustain that high performance for an entire tournament against competition at least as good as you if not better. THEN add the pressure of doing that with your next meal riding on it (remember - only half the players that enter a tournament -which they spend their own money to do - get paid. If you miss the cut, you are out your investment. There are no guaranteed contracts in golf.). Then add to THAT doing it with hundreds of people within 10-15 feet of you. I think sustained excellent performance on a golf tour is harder to do than baseball. Maybe the hardest thing in all of sport?

MDCardsFan wrote:I still maintain as I always have that while "clutch" may not exist, "not clutch" does.

Clutch may indicate that a player's performance is increased in pressure situations. I tend to think that "clutch" players perform nearly identically as they do in "non-clutch" sitatuions and that variances are a matter of sample size.

However, hitting a baseball is probably the singular most difficult skill in sport and one can not ignore that pressure is going to adversly affect some players performance. Learning to block out all mental distractions is key to performing well in high pressure situations. I don't buy the arguement that ALL MLB players can do this by virtue of being the "best of the best".

Throwing a ball is fairly tough too. In the bigs, when guys miss their spot, they often pay the price. Perhaps "not clutch" does exist, and hitters we recognize as "clutch" are successful in high leverage situations because they take advantage of "not clutch" pitchers better than "not clutch" hitters.

I've never really believed in "clutch", but it does feel like there's a lot of times in high leverage situations when you feel good about a guy coming to the plate and you don't feel good when others come to the plate and your gut ends up being right.

The leaderboard for clutch is interesting to look at. The worst clutch player in probably the last 25 years was Sammy Sosa. Jim Thome, Ken Griffey, Jr. and A-Rod are also way down there.

pioneer98 wrote:The leaderboard for clutch is interesting to look at. The worst clutch player in probably the last 25 years was Sammy Sosa. Jim Thome, Ken Griffey, Jr. and A-Rod are also way down there.

When you're pretty valuable all the time, it's probably tougher to appear better when the situation has greater leverage.

Albert Pujols, he of the .232 batting average and 26 RBI, has been one of the clutchiest hitters in all of baseball this year.

I looked up the career clutch numbers for just a bunch of random guys who I was interested in. Weirdly, three guys who have kind of a giant "clutch" repuatation are very near zero for a career clutch number (Jeter, Reggie Jackson and Albert). I'd guess that these guys just didn't play very different in big situations versus others.

I thought it was funny that Buckner was one of the clutchest players I looked up.

I also thought it was interesting that several known roid users were some of the worst clutch hitters I found (McGwire, Canseco, Sosa, A-Rod, Bonds).

I don't know what to make of this stat because it says a guy like Mariano Rivera is not that clutch. But his numbers dropped the last 3 seasons. Honestly, I'd say that anyone within 2 or 3 on either side of zero for their career is probably pretty average. It is the extreme cases I think where this stat might actually tell you something.

[SHOW]

Ichiro Suzuki = 5.73
Bill Buckner = 5.24
Kirby Puckett = 5.15
Kent Hrbek = 4.77
Paul O’Neil = 4.55
Joey Votto = 4.49
Ozzie Smith = 4.43
AJ Pierzynski = 4.06
Yadier Molina = 3.87
Roy Halladay = 3.50
John Tudor = 2.81
Chris Carpenter = 2.48
Edgar Renteria = 2.00
Orlando Hernandez = 1.95
David Eckstein = 1.94
Willie McGee = 1.22
Danny Cox = 1.14
David Ortiz = 1.08
Derek Jeter = 0.83
Jack Morris = 0.68
Albert Pujols = 0.14
-----------------------
Andy Pettite = -0.15
Reggie Jackson = -0.60
Scott Rolen = -1.52
Jim Edmonds = -1.83
Lonnie Smith = -1.91
Greg Maddux = -3.49
Mariano Rivera = -3.65
Jauquin Andujar = -4.80
Jose Canseco = -4.99
Dave Winfield = -5.13
Curt Schilling = -5.26
Mark McGwire = -5.36
Manny Ramirez = -6.21
Paul Konerko = -6.33
Ken Griffey, Jr. = -6.91
Moises Alou = -7.27
Alex Rodriguez = -7.82
Barry Bonds = -9.33
Sammy Sosa = -14.84

Believe it or not, the St. Louis Cardinals have actually struggled in clutch situations this year. Even with these issues, they still lead the National League Central.

Cardinals' hitters have posted a clutch statistic of minus-1.6 so far this season. This is the fourth worst mark in the MLB so far this year. Luckily the Cardinals have been able to score early and often, which is why they have a good record even though they have not come through in the clutch.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1191 ... all/page/3

I looked up the career clutch numbers for just a bunch of random guys who I was interested in. Weirdly, three guys who have kind of a giant "clutch" repuatation are very near zero for a career clutch number (Jeter, Reggie Jackson and Albert). I'd guess that these guys just didn't play very different in big situations versus others.

Part of it is that a lot of super late and close situations lend themselves to contact hitters. You need to get that runner in from second and you choose Ichiro over McGwire every time, even though McGwire is the superior hitter overall.

planet puma wrote:

Believe it or not, the St. Louis Cardinals have actually struggled in clutch situations this year. Even with these issues, they still lead the National League Central.

Cardinals' hitters have posted a clutch statistic of minus-1.6 so far this season. This is the fourth worst mark in the MLB so far this year. Luckily the Cardinals have been able to score early and often, which is why they have a good record even though they have not come through in the clutch.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1191 ... all/page/3

Considering the Cardinals' record in 1-run games, this isn't surprising.